Mysterious Parchment
by AllINeedIsALittleFelix
Summary: Lily finds the Marauder's Map. Prongs can't stop complimenting her. Based in a tumblr prompt.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Based on a Tumblr post I saw. First Harry Potter fic. Please review.**

Lily was having a very bad month. Her best friend, or so she thought, had called her a mudblood. Ironically, it was Severus who told her not to pay attention to such insults and consoled her in her first year. It felt cruel, him saying the words she detested, even after he knew what those words did to her. Well, he did try to apologize, but Lily was done with him. She was done giving excuses for what Severus did. She would not turn a blind eye to the cruel person Severus was becoming. She tried to dissuade him from his dark ambitions, but he didn't listen. And, Lily was done trying.

On top of that, she just received a letter from her parents. Petunia's boyfriend was coming for Christmas and they wanted her to come. Ugh. Lily avoided going home for Christmas because of Petunia. Even after five years, Petunia was still sore that she wasn't a witch. Lily had tried with her as well, but they never got along.

"I must stop trying to change things" she mused to herself.

She walked along the corridors, thanking Godric for the millionth time, that she was a witch. The problems it caused were nothing compared to what she could do. In this brighter mindset, she started going towards the grounds, intending to take a walk.

She walked towards the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch, checking beforehand if anyone was practicing. She was done watching that Potter make a complete fool out of himself. She walked on the pitch, savoring the fresh, magical air. She started to relax slowly. She started skywalking. It was a relaxation technique her father had taught her. The technique was that you walk but you only look at the sky.

She was doing fine and was taking more confident steps when she slipped. Irritated, she got up, cursing the world for not letting her relax. She saw the thing she slipped on. An old piece of parchment. How odd.

She frowned at the irresponsibility of students. It made her job as a prefect much harder. She picked up the parchment and took out her wand to burn it.

 _Incendio._

Nothing happened. Strange. She was good at that spell. She tried again.

 _Incendio._

Still nothing. But writing started to appear on the parchment.

"Must be a Zonko product" she thought to herself. She opened the parchment, bracing herself for anything that might happen.

 _Mr. Moony would like to advise Ms. Evans to leave this piece of parchment wherever found._

 _Mr. Prongs would like to add that Ms. Evans is insane…ly hot, just like the flames she wanted to produce._

 _Mr. Padfoot would like to differ with . He challenges Ms. Evans to destroy the parchment, that nerdy red-head. He also requests Mr. Prongs to get his head out of the gutter and perform his duties._

 _Mr. Wormtail is unavailable for comment, he is too busy eat..too busy._

Must be an Impervius Charm along with other things. Huh. One advice, one insult and one compliment. Prongs, Padfoot, Wormtail and Moony. Strange names. But it felt like she heard them somewhere. She wonders if she should heed Mr. Moony's advice or to take up Mr. Padfoot's challenge. She decides to take up the challenge.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

She decided to go to the library. Talking pieces of parchment were not really her area. She found nothing on them, except for advice to not trust something if you couldn't see where it keeps it head. She wonders if she should give the parchment to a teacher. The thrill of the puzzle kept her from doing so. She decided she would tell her best friend about it and they would try destroying it together. She had to be responsible.

"Cathy, come here for a sec" Lily called her.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

They went back to their room. Cathy was equally curious. Both of them cast the spell at once.

 _Evanesco._

Nothing happened. They didn't really expect something would happen. Curious, Lily opened the parchment to read what it said now.

 _Mr. Moony advises the red head and her friend to come out of their stupidity and leave the parchment where it belongs_

 _Mr. Prongs wishes he could vanish Ms. Evans….and conjure her near him_

 _Mr. Padfoot would like to shake his head at Mr. Prongs and also ask Ms. Evans and her friend to give up. He adds it is impossible for them to see anything below their noses._

 _Mr. Wormtail would like to give Ms. Evans and her friend the compliments of the season and advices Catherine to stop putting so much makeup_

"No, Cathy, don't worry about the makeup. They've insulted me too." Lily said, seeing that her friend was slightly hurt.

"No, it's okay." Catherine replied. Lily could see that Catherine wanted to find out the secret behind the parchment as much as she did.

"So, should I give this to a teacher?" Lily asked.

"No! Where would the fun be in that?" Cathy said, her eyes blazing with excitement.

 **A/N: There will be one or two chapters more. Suggestions on spells are welcome. Advice is welcome. Reviews are love!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks for the support guys!**

Lily could see that Catherine wanted payback for that make-up comment. Her eyes were blazing and Lily felt sorry for the parchment. There was no way Catherine would let that piece of parchment survive. She braced herself for Cathy's next spell.

"On the count of three" Catherine said.

Lily nodded.

"One. Two. Three."

 _Reducto_

Nothing happened. Lily let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Predictably, writing appeared on the parchment.

 _Reducto_

 _Reducto_

 _Reducto_

This time it was only Cathy who spelled it. Lily looked up at her in surprise. She really was aggravated about the comments then. Predictably, nothing happened to the parchment. She looked at Cathy, whose expression was no longer excited, but resigned. She waved her hand to indicate Lily to read the parchment.

 _Mr. Moony refrains to comment on the stupidity of Lily and Catherine fully knowing that it will be only a waste of ink._

 _Mr. Prongs would like to inform Lily that it feels like she performed the Reductor Curse on his heart by refusing his advances._

 _Mr. Padfoot would like to roll his eyes at Mr. Prongs. He would also like to add that he lov…..hates Catherine's vivacity_

 _Mr. Wormtail would like to apologize to Catherine. He also wishes that Mr. Padfoot is now happy._

Lily passed the parchment to Catherine. It was obvious that Mr. Prongs, whoever he was, had a huge crush one her. And, truth to be told, she found it a little cute that he was so into her. Not that she was interested in him or anything. Not at all.

Mr. Padfoot on the other hand, seemed to hate her a little for taking up so much of Mr. Prongs attention. A jealous best-friend. Of course, he now seemed to like Catherine, not that Catherine would like him. Or, would she?

"So, what do we know about these people, if they actually exist?" Catherine said, her voice business-like. Her anger seemed to have vanished, only replaced by curiosity. Lily could see that Catherine wanted to know who Mr. Padfoot is.

"A group of four people. Four guys. Prongs and Padfoot are undoubtedly bestfriends. Moony is careful and strict. Prongs…." Lily trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"Prongs has a humongous crush on you. Moving on" Catherine said, noticing the way Lily's cheeks had gone red.

"Yes. Padfoot likes to insult and challenge people" Lily continued. She pretended that she did not see Catherine's face.

"And Wormtail is like the tail of the group." Catherine continued, writing all of it in Lily's notebook.

"That's all we have for now" Lily said, raising her wand again.

"Of course. We need more data." Catherine nodded, raising her wand as well.

"One. Two. Three."

 _DIffindo_

Instead of tearing like they slightly expected it to, the parchment flew out of the window.

"What the hell?" Catherine said, both of them rushing towards the window and looking out.

 _Accio parchment_

For a moment, the parchment stopped in mid-air and it seemed like the parchment was coming back. However, the parchment continued on its path. Lily had a slight suspicion that someone else was summoning the parchment, and by the force of it, they were extremely magical. Catherine seemed to have come to the same conclusion, for she casted:

 _Accio Parchment_

The map stopped in midair and then started coming back to the girls dormitories. Lily and Catherine high-fived each other and looked eagerly outside the window. The map was doing some strange kind of dance in mid-air – as if it was unable to decide which way to go. Lily and Catherine wasted no time.

 _Accio Parchment_

The piece of parchment still danced in midair. But, Lily and Catherine could see that they were losing the battle. They casted relentlessly, but some strange force pulled it away from them. The parchment went above their window and they could not see where it ended up going. Lily gave a disappointed sigh and was surprised when she saw Catherine's eager face.

"Oh, Lily! Don't you see? Someone else was summoning the parchment too!" Catherine said, excitement written all over her face.

"Yes, so?"

"Lily, you are one of the best of our year. And, I will not pretend, but I am really good at Charms. It must have taken an incredible amount of magical energy to have summoned it, resisting our magic. It surely could not have been one person" Catherine said. Lily saw it now.

"If whoever summoned it are students, there will be more than two people who summoned it together. Three gifted people. The people who created this parchment. So, you are saying…."

"Yes! Prongs, Padfoot, Moony and Wormtail summoned it back. They are actual people who are alive. I thought the parchment might have been created by old students who might be dead by now. Hogwarts contains so many secrets." Catherine said.

"I see what you mean. It would be really weird for a dead man to be crushing on me. So, that's a relief" Lily said, but Catherine was not listening. She was looking outside the window, trying to figure out the direction in which the parchment flew.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHP

"Finally! Moony, you are a genius!" James said, clutching the precious map.

"A Summoning Charm isn't genius, Prongs, it's common sense. We could have gotten it earlier if you told us you lost it" Padfoot said.

"Padfoot…." James began, but Sirius cut him off.

"Don't. I am still angry at you for losing the map. How could you, James?" Sirius demanded, snatching the map from James.

"For the first time, I must agree with Padfoot. You remember how much time it took us to make the map, Prongs. What if someone found it? You do realize the map is actually illegal?" Moony said, frowning at his Prefect badge.

"Illegal? Just because it breaks a few privacy rules? Moony, Padfoot we've done much worse things. No, no, don't deny it. Remember when we flooded the entire Charms corridor? _That_ was illegal" James said, trying to brighten the mood.

It worked. Sirius's eyes shone, reminiscing the time they flooded the corridor. It had been on a whim, to flood it and blame it on Myrtle. Myrtle had been annoying Sirius while he was bathing (he did have quite a large fan-base). And, surprisingly, it worked.

"Okay, okay. But no map for you for two months" Sirius said, fully knowing that James would hate it. James had the extraordinary ability of appearing wherever Lily was. Well, not anymore. He opened the Marauder's treasure, checking for damage.

"Marauders! Someone tried to work the Map!" Padfoot said, with the glory worthy of a warrior.

"Time to see how good Padfoot's charms are then" James said, opening the map in Sirius' hands. All the Marauders leaned in to see the strength of their spell-work.

 _Mr. Moony offers no comment upon the increasing stupidity of, what he once believed, were "the two brightest witches of their age"_

 _Mr. Prongs would like to add that Lily was ripping his heart by not letting him take her out_

 _Mr. Padfoot would like to smirk in the annoyingly arrogant way that works better than love potions. He would also like to add that the redhead can never beat him so she should just stop trying. However, he would not mind if her friend tries._

 _Mr. Wormtail would like to ask his fellow Marauders if he could copy their Transfiguration homework._

 **A/N: Reviews are love.**

For the first time in his life, James felt guilty. For the first time in his life, James understood how irresponsible he really was. The other Marauders shunned him as punishment for losing the royal treasure (read Marauder's Map). It was not even James' fault. He had the map in his pocket that morning and couldn't find it when he needed it in the evening. He had not used it for a single


End file.
